Manufacture and composition of floor oil-cloths



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DAVID N. MELVIN, OF NEW SPRINGVILLE, NEW YORK.

MANUFACTURE AND COMPOSITION OF FLOOR OlL-C LOTHS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,891, dated January 31, 1882.

I Application tiled September 24, 1881. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID NmLsoN MEL- VIN, asubjectof the Kingdom of GreatBritain, residing at New Springville, in the county of Richmond, State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture and Composition of Floor Oil- Oloths of the kinds known as Kamptulicon and Linoleum, where finely divided cork or other analogous organic substance is used as a basis instead of preparations of lead or other mineral substances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Formerly kamptulicon floor-cloth was manufactured by mixing finely-divided cork with indie-rubber in a pair of ordinary mixing-rollers, and then rolling the product into sheets, an improvement on which was the use of thick canvas as a foundation on which to roll. or spre'a'd the composition of im Lia-rubber and cork. A furtherimproveiiiefit was th 'siilfstitution of oxidize Tlinseed-oil for the india-rubber, andtheproduct was then called linoleum floor-cloth.

Now, the object of my invention is to shorten and facilitate the process of manufacture by substituting for the oxidized linseed-oil a direct process, whereby the tedious operation of producing the said oxidized linseed oil is avoided and the whole operation compassed within three or four days, instead of three months, at the same time the product being much improved and perfectly seasoned and fit for use immediately its manufacture is completed.

The first part of my process is preparing raw linseed-oil by boiling in the ordinary way with driers, either red lead, litharge, or black oxide of manganese, or sulphate of manganese, or a mixture of either of them may be used. This operation of boiling is carried further than when the boiled oil is required for mixing with paints-that is, until the oil is considerably A thickened and darkenedby the carbonization of the mucilaginous matters itcontains. I then mixthisboiledlinseed-oil with powdered gums, such as copal, anime, kauri, or Manila, and

also with anyocherous pigment. I prefer to use the following proportions, which may be altered to suit the quality of the oil used or of anyof the other ingredients: gum-copal, two parts; boiled linseed oil, six parts; yellow ocher, five parts, all by weight. To thoroughly mix this mass I prefer to pass it through an ordinary paint-mill, and then, ifnotstiffenough, I mix it with a small proportion of finely-divided cork to bring it to the consistencyof stiff mortar. This is then spread on sheets of iron or any other suitable material with a trowel; These sheets are then hung up in a temperature 'of at least 190 Fahrenheit for a period varythirteen parts of this composition are now mixed with two parts of common rosin or colophony and nine parts of finely-divided cork, and the mixturesthoroughly incorporated togetherin an ordinary india-rubber-mixing apparatus. The product is now ready for rolling into sheets between steam-heated rollers and upon a cloth orcanvas foundation or otherwise,in the usual manner pursued with indiarubber goods. I Y

The great advantage of my process of manufacture of fioor-clothsis the rapidity with which raw material is turned into a finished product and the greater certainty of the results than by the process of using oxidized oil to produce a floor-cloth. Any adulteration or inferiority of the raw material may be detected at once without entailing thepartial manufacture of a large amount of stock as obtains in the old process, where three months may elapse before an inferior oil is detected.

I do not specify any particular machinery for these processes, as there are many machines in common use in the india-rubber manufacture which answer all the purposes of the various manipulations herein described.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim, and secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The production of a floor oil-cloth'by rolling onto canvas'or spreading into sheets a composition composed of cork or other analogous organic substance and a gummy substance or cement, produced in the manner above specified.

2. The mixture of gmn-copal or other analogous gums with boiled linseed-oil and an ocherons pigment, and spreading of the same on sheets, either by flooding, dipping, or with a trowel, after thii-kening the mixture to the consistency of mortar and drying the same by heat, for the purpose above specified.

3. Mixing the composition of gums, boiled linseed-oil, and pigment, after being, dried, as described, with common rosin and pulverized cork, for the purpose of producing a floor oil cloth, substantially as described.

\Vitness my hand this 19th day of Septem- 15 ber, A. D. 1881.

DAVID N. MELVIN.

Witnesses:

CHAS. RUFF, FRED. W. HULSEBESS. 

